At the beginning of each school description, you'll find a list of statistical information. You can acquire useful information from these facts and figures. Just remember to look to other sources-such as the text of the school description—to flesh out the statistical skeleton.

In most cases, the statistics were provided by the schools' administrations in 1990. Many of the figures are approximate; consult the schools themselves for the most current and complete information.

   Throughout the statistics, the abbreviation NA indicates that information was not available.  Address: The mailing address provided is the one to use for requesting admissions materials. A simple postcard is the best way to request a catalog, application, and financial aid information. Phone: The phone number of the admissions office can be useful for specific, important questions. Don't use it if you can possibly write instead.

    Degrees: Many law schools offer more than one degree. The J.D. is the basic professional degree, given after three years of full-time or four years of part-time study. The LL.M. is a master's degree in law, awarded to people who already have a J.D. and popular for professional specialization or preparation for law teaching. LL.M. programs in specialized ™e are indicated as such. The J.S.D. (or S.J.D.) is an advanced.

    How to Use This Book esearch degree, similar to a Ph.D. The M.C.L., a master's degree in comparative law, is usually geared toward graduates of foreign law schools, as is also true of some LL.M. programs, joint degree programs, which usually award two degrees in less time than it would take to pursue both individually, are offered by many law schools in conjunction with other duate ancj professional schools. Among the most common are I.D./M.B.A. (master's in business administration) and T D /M.P.A. (master's in public administration).

    Many schools will allow you to devise your own joint degree; ask to be sure. (Degrees other than the ones discussed above are explained where they appear.)

Median LSAT: These figures, computed on the basis of the scores of the entering class, will give you some idea of how you measure up to a school's admission standards. But other factors in your application may substantially affect your candidacy, and keep in mind that there are always as many people below as above the median.

The scores given here reflect the old 10-48 scale. The LSAT folks caution that these are not directly comparable to scores earned on the new 120—180 scale. Nevertheless, for a useful perspective on a given school's LSAT standards, find the school's median score on the following chart, which shows the approximate percentage of all test-takers falling below each score:

    Median GPA: As with the median LSAT, remember that there are always the same numbers of people below and above the median.

    Be aware that your undergraduate grade point average will be evaluated according to what college you're coming from. The figure given here is the median for all students in the entering class, calculated on a 4.0 scale. Applicants accepted: This figure represents the percentage of applicants who were offered a spot in the entering class. Not all of them enrolled.

    Transfer students: Often an average or a representative range. Annual transfer acceptances are shown first. The number of slash applicants' where available, is shown after a diagonal.